Ohio senator seeks review of medical pot program after error

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A state lawmaker is moving to force a thorough review of Ohio’s medical marijuana program after alleged and acknowledged mistakes occurred in selecting grower applicants.

Republican Sen. Bill Coley, of Cincinnati, proposed legislation Thursday requiring State Auditor Dave Yost to conduct and release a performance audit of the program. The program is supposed to be up and running by September.

The Ohio Department of Commerce acknowledged last week that a scoring error led to one company’s inadvertent exclusion from the dozen big marijuana growers on its proposed list of license recipients.

The agency says it identified the mistake after Yost expressed concern that two employees had complete access to the scoring data.

Some unsuccessful applicants for grower licenses have sued over alleged failures in the licensing process.